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With my job requiring more and more of my time lately, I was afraid I would have to give up my book reviews. Thankfully, my mama has taken on the role of book reviewer for a little while. Seasons come and seasons go...books will be back in my life again soon, I hope!

Seeing Jesus is a small book measuring only 6.5" x 4.5" x .5" and is adapted from the longer The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament also by Nancy Guthrie. It is really nice in appearance...tan leather cover with gold embossed title...a perfect little gift for someone special. There are 60 short devotionals contained within, each about 4 pages long. Each "lesson" or "devotional" begins with a scripture reference from both the Old and the New Testaments and has several more sprinkled throughout the text. (These scriptures are in the New Living Translation unless otherwise indicated.)

I choose this book because, being Messianic in faith, I enjoy finding something to read that emphasizes the importance of the OLD and the NEW Testaments together. Neither are complete without the other and it is wonderful to come across something that points out this fact. I would like to have seen more coverage for the topics, however, I do realize that it is difficult to pour a lot of depth into such a short writing. And for someone not previously attuned to this idea, it would probably be just the right amount to wet his appetite to study more.

One problem I did have with this book is one I have with many others. I am not a fan of taking a single scripture or even a part of a scripture reference to make a point in a devotional. (I do admit to having done this myself before, sadly.) I noticed that Ms. Guthrie does this in some of her "lessons" and while the practice may result in a correct presentation, things can be twisted when given out of context. Scripture, in my opinion, needs to be read in context of, at a minimum of several verses, an entire chapter for better understanding, or best of all, the entire book! Once again, I realize that the size of the entries limits how much coverage can be given to a topic.

Overall, I think the book is a nice presentation of an underutilized topic. No one book, outside of The Bible (the Holy Scriptures themselves) will ever be perfect. Keeping that in mind, I believe this could be ahandy reference and quick encouragement for many people.

I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House.